Love Next Door (2024)

A horrible series!

show in the middle of the cast in the middle of the plot in the middle with chemistry in the middle! even the secondary characters have more chemistry than the main character they force the comedy that doesn't make you laugh like the second couple's chemistry but they were good other this show is just a waste of time and energy maybe spend that time on other shows no character development the main protagonist's kiss scene looks like two wooden panels glued together with 0 emotions and intensity, I kind of don't like their acting either if I'm not they were in a different drama also I don't remember the name but compared to this this totally failed expectations

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It started off really well Then........

This was a lot of fun in the beginning but sadly it took a nose dive. Couldn't help wonder how such a great Male Lead signed himself up for this dreadfully poor drama. Most of his others were really worth watching. With many S Korean Dramas I am alarmed at how much parents dominate their adult children and ofter resort to physical abuse of them. After watching Heaps of K Dramas I have gained some very puzzling ideas about life there. Bosses who violate their female workers in particular. Women who get drunk and end up vulnerable on the streets. Children caught up in poverty because their parents pass on debt. I know they are only dramas but there are recurring situations throughout many. On a positive note I have been amazed at the creativity of many of the scripts. Some are astoundingly good. Dozens of excellent Dramas, fabulous acting and real talent. This drama nose dived and I found it increasingly boring hence the poor numbers. The second couple were more interesting.

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Just the romance could have, and would have been enough

This was the drama I've been looking forward to all year, and I was so so disappointed. This drama is what you get when a writer wants to write a rom-com but can't develop it well, so they start inserting random plot points and cute, trope-y moments and just cross their fingers.

I'll be honest. The drama lost me the moment the stomach cancer plot was introduced, for multiple reasons.

From a writing perspective, it just doesn't work. It's a lazy way to evoke empathy and it gave me tonal whiplash — the scenes specifically about Seok-ryu's cancer are well-done and heavy, but the show itches to revert to its light-hearted rom-com moments. It feels like the cancer plot is big for a few episodes and then completely forgotten, save for a few random mentions. The show falls into the unfortunate trap — instead of adding depth, it ends up feeling too light-hearted for such a heavy topic.

On a more serious note, I also just feel like the cancer plot point undermines the commentary on mental health, which I was really enjoying at the start. We have the main character undergoing familial pressure, burnout, and depression — things that are SO relatable to just about every single person — and suddenly the cancer reveal happens, and it's like oh, all those things that Seok-ryu was going through was because of the cancer. Her mother, who just thinks Seok-ryu is going through a phase, suddenly cares because the illness is physical. But the entire time I couldn't help but think it would've been such better writing and so much more touching if there had been no cancer plot and Seok-ryu's mother had grown to understand the importance of mental health instead.

After the cancer reveal, the plot pretty much winds down and starts going through subplots (like the parents' almost-divorce caused by a misunderstanding, and a few fights) that make it feel a little aimless. It's like the drama doesn't really know where to go from there and the writing just takes a steep dive because it never took the time to fully develop either Seok-ryu's cooking journey, or Seung-hyo's architecture company. We only seem to see glimpses of each.

I think the best scenes in the show are actually the flashbacks, where we got to see the chaotic depths of the leads' relationship from each of their perspectives and how it was paralleling present day. The banter that they have is actually pretty fun, but they definitely lose that spark once they get together and just become a very common couple with the common kdrama scenes. The chemistry that had potential at the start isn't there anymore.

As for the second ship...they're fine. They start out cute, but despite the potential of the backstory, I just don't feel like they ever touched my emotions.

Ultimately, I really wish this had either (1) gone full melodrama and given the cancer plot the weight it needed (even the second ship's backstory has a lot of potential for angst), or (2) trusted in the rom-com genre, and that the development between the leads as they followed their dreams together would've been enough to give us an amazing story — without all the extra stuff.

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Mediocre drama

this drama is so overrated like seriously I started watching it because of all of the hype from TikTok to ended up watching boring show with a pathetic ML and FL seriously a 34 dude acting like teenager.. getting angry for nothing ( you don't love me than fine don't talk to me than I can't response to your call 😒 ) a FL is so immature and hella loud she's not better than him .... even if you're childhood friends we don't Bicker like this is not even funny it's childish... for someone who have in family with stomach cancer and has removed a part of it it's impossible that she can eat that much .....i skipped alot of it i was dying from bordioum one of the worst drama this Year! Mediocre drama...and the fandom is so pathetic anyone who doesn't like the drama are their enemy ...I said I don't like the ml acting they strated to attack me like their Life depand on it 😒. ..you have the right to love it as you like and I have the right to hate it as much as I want...

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Simple, interesting but quite boring

Love Next Door is a story of a woman who lives the perfect life abroad, being employed by one of the best companies in the world and engaged to an international lawyer. She suddenly returns to Korea. Her mom's friend's son, who is one of her childhood best friends, is a top architect in Korea.

To be honest I was waiting to watch this drama when I heard about the cast of this drama I got excited. Also the story of the drama was rom-com and I like watching rom-com dramas.

When its first episode released my expectations went way up and with the hype of this drama I was getting more excited with the release of the second episode and I didn't like the second episode, the upcoming episodes also got boring and I was thinking that slowly the drama will get better but it didn't.

I honestly expected more from this drama, I found it quite boring, I didn't see the chemistry between the protagonists, the secondary couple has more chemistry than them, I expected a lot more from this drama. While watching the drama I thought about quitting this drama but there were only 2 episodes pending so I thought let's see what happens in the last two episodes.

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Such a disappointment of a potentially good drama.

You know what’s crazy I know these actors can act. I’ve seen Jung Hae In provide a stellar performance before, and I’ve watched Jung So Min have so much chemistry with Seo In Guk in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes that they make guest appearances together in new shows years later. But this isn’t hate toward the actors, it’s hate toward the script or directors because the episodes are just too long and too slow. It feels like nothing is happening and everyone is running around in circles. We got so much of Seunghyo’s pov so we know how much he likes Seok Ryu. But we hardly get any perspective of Seungyho from Seok Ryu’s pov.

I’m pretty sure we are shown one glimpse of her when she was a kid saying that she liked him, but that is genuinely it. Like their confessions lacked sincerity and if you’ve watched enough dramas I feel like you can tell they’re just following a script if that makes sense. There’s no casual skinship that a normal real couple would have. And jumping to marriage when we’ve barely even seen them date just feels jarring. It looks like Seok Ryu is just reluctantly accepting his feelings and only confides the truth when something huge happens to Seunghyo or when it’s convenient for her. Like her confession to this boy that’s been in love with her for years, is simply “I realised I’m bored without you for like a day so we might as well date”. And just the main thing is NOTHING IS HAPPENING IN THIS SHOW. The plot doesn’t move forward and no one learns from their mistakes. The two dads have the most chemistry out of everyone.

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Lovable characters —lackluster story

I finally finished love next-door and I had high hopes for this one and unfortunately it disappointed me. I’m sorry please don’t hate me but I think I’m only gonna rate it a 6.5-7 out of 10.

The storyline was dry. I felt like they could’ve done a lot more with the characters. The only saving grace was the second couple and the writers didn’t even flesh that out as much as they could’ve. The finale was completely drawn out for no reason because it was very anti-climatic.

Don’t get me wrong this story had some
Lovable characters (Dan Ho, Mo- Eum, yeon du, the lavenders, the dad 🥹) it’s just the story could’ve been better.

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Illness as the redemption arc

"Love Next Door" follows the story of two best friends, Seok Ryu and Seung Ho, who grew up together. However, as life became busier, they gradually distanced. Their paths cross again when Seok Ryu returns to the country, rekindling their connection.

My review is kind of a reality check because Oppa couldn't distract me this time xD

How illness was magical bandage to all the problems:

1. Yeon Du gets a fever and collapses, and suddenly Dan Ho realises his mistake and responsibilities.

2. Poor Seok Ryu has to go through cancer just for her family to finally notice her and have their big emotional redemption arc. It’s as if a regular sickness wouldn’t have been tragic enough to get them to care. It had to be something huge.


3. The younger brother gets priority treatment because he was sick as a kid, and that status never seems to expire. It's not wrong but neglecting the other kid ain't fair either.


4. Then there’s the ML’s mom, whose short-term memory loss from stress is what finally forces them to have a real conversation about marriage. Because talking it out normally? was difficult for the writers:D


5. And, of course, the ML has to get injured at work for the FL SAY OUT LOUD her true feelings.


It’s funny how illness and injury are like the secret sauce to fix everything in this drama.

Things that consistently pissed me off?

1. Her mother. There's a fine line between suggesting a career path and straight-up forcing someone to return to a place they've repeatedly said, in language clear enough for even a toddler to get, they don't want to go back to. But no, she just had to be so persistently annoying about it, like her hearing was selectively off every time Seok Ryu said, "No thanks."

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, we get one episode—one—where she magically redeems herself, only to snap right back to her old ways immediately after. Classic. She continues treating Seok Ryu like she's a clueless 18-year-old, completely ignoring the fact that her daughter has probably figured out a thing or two about life by now. But nah, in mom’s eyes, she's still too young to know anything worth listening to.

The father was the only sane person in her family, but overly dramatic but I guess it was needed for his character.

2. Okay So I love Jung Hae In but his character, UHMMM, I'm not really a fan.

The first incident, when he was walking behind her and she started running because she thought she was being followed by a stranger—why was his response, "You should've looked back"? BROTHER, YOU COULD'VE SAID IT'S YOU OR CALLED HER NAME! What's with the victim blaming? 😭

Then, when Seok Ryu was sick, she tried to reach out to him sooo many times. Forget friendship, it was basic human decency to pick up at least once. Like, they've known each other for at least 10 years—what kind of dickhead behavior is that? I'm sorry, but if you were her friend, you would've put aside your feelings and at least reached out to her once. I SAID WHAT I SAID. They weren't even on bad terms! She has a boyfriend; I will never understand this kind of ghosting. It's not like she was even aware of his feelings, wtf. FELT SOO IMMATURE and then he hits you with a "I should've reached out to you sooner" shit smh.

3. Seok Ryu's ex coming back was the worst and most saddening thing for me. Like, what was even the point of him? I honestly felt bad for the guy. He wasn’t wrong to feel what he felt and to be in that depression mode—he was taking care of everything alone. Her family had no idea, but he was there, and it’s sooo pathetic how at the start it almost leaned toward him cheating on her. Messed up. And then Seok Ryu keeps him around without giving him a proper rejection or any real confrontation.

Things I liked

1. Seok Ryu sucked at being honest about her feelings and emotions, which is sooo relatable as the older sibling. I literally cried for her :( I liked how she finally found her dream.

2. Mo Eum? She’s soooo straightforward and easily the vibey person throughout the whole show—I loved her! Her bond with Yeon Du, I lovedd it so much.

3. One of the things I also liked was the ladies' group. That was one wholesome friendship, and all the ladies were so cutesy.


Honestly, the last few episodes were a bit of a dud. Nothing really happens! And that unnecessary fight between the aunties? Like, WHY was that even a thing:d

Overall, nothing stood out to me. Sure, the corporate culture and work-life stress were highlights, but beyond that... meh. The leads are cute, but that's about it.

Thank you for reading my review:D

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Another bad k drama

People giving this a ten rating are crazy. Its one of the worst shows I've watched this year. The show has some good actors, but not 1 of them is putting on a good performance. I can't really blame them as the story is garbage from every aspect; the main lead romance, the second lead romance, the families, the friends, all boring with no chemistry. This year has been really bad for k dramas as the writing and stories have been subpar except for a couple of shows.

The male lead is completely unlikable, he's an emotionally stunted jealous child in a grown man's body. Besides his character being poorly written and unlikable, his forced acting is the worst of the bunch. This is the 3rd series I've seen him in and he doesn't have much range in his acting.

The female lead i loved in alchemy of souls, but add her to the list of bad performances.

I'm hate watching now hoping they all end up miserable, except for the daughter of the second male lead as she's the only character i like.

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